These are some forgotten cars of India
1. Maruti Versa
When you see an Eeco on the road it is the successor of the Versa, the first premium MPV from Maruti stable. It is a premium for that time but it has a van type body structure to make space in the car. It is tall have ton of headroom decent cabin space and some good features to wow customers. It comes with 1.2L engine with around 82 hp. But in the end it doesn’t hit to the heart string to Indians because of the high price tag. So Maruti decides to phase out and launch Eeco with less features and low price tag.
2. Maruti Esteem
Maruti was famous for it’s entry level hatchback the 800 and the boxy Omni. But in 1990 Maruti changed it’s strategy and launched a premium sedan which can lure the elite customers. So with the Maruti 1000 (name of the car at the launch) is launched. With a 1L engine that produce 48 hp. After sometime the 1L engine replaced by 1.3L unit and the hence it gets name “Esteem”. It was discontinued in 2008.
3. Tata Safari Petrol
Yes, you heard that right. Safari petrol. Tata makes an attempt to bring a petrol powered Safari to the lineup but it failed miserably. The reason is straight, because of the low efficiency and the price of Diesel, which was cheap then. It came with a 2.1L petrol engine which produce 125hp. But the main problem is the mileage of 6 to 8 kmpl. Sales number never pickup so Tata decided to pull the plug to the petrol variant in 2005.
4. Tata Spacio Gold
SUV with a canvas top. It was based on Tata Sumo, a renowed name in Indian car history. Not many people know about this car and hence it was not a great seller either. It was launched back in the early 2000s. It shared its 3.0-litre direct injection diesel engine with the Tata 407. It was unique and sold in unique numbers as well. So Tata decied to discontinued it.
5. Tata Estate
It is a different segment altogether. The station wagon. Popular in America but never been considered by Indians. Because of obvious reason, lack of money to buy different vehicles for different purpose. It was a spacious premium station wagon. It was based on Tata Sierra platform. But it never took off. So Tata decided to pull the plug.
Two Wheel Storm 